Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams
Sir: I have just now received your despatch of the 16th of November, No. 1481. In my No. 2096 I explained the grounds for asking delay in the case of Warren. In the same paper I gave my reason for urging clemency to O’Brien and McCondon. I have this day, by telegraph, asked to be furnished With a copy of the statutes of treason-felony under which the prisoners Warren, Costello, and Nagle are indicted. Whatever may be the moral effect of those proceedings in Great Britain, it is quite certain that they have excited profound discontent in the United States. I shall have occasion to write you fully upon the subject after I shall have received the copy of the statutes referred to, and a more full and accurate report of the trials which have been held at Dublin.
In the Globe, which is regularly forwarded by this department, you will find a report of congressional debates concerning the subject of the Fenian trials. I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.